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Durham E-Theses Studies in Sindi society the anthropology of selected Sindi communities Siddiqi, A. H. A. How to cite: Siddiqi, A. H. A. (1968) Studies in Sindi society the anthropology of selected Sindi communities, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/10150/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk Studies in Sindi Society. The Anthropology of Selected Sindi Communities. Summary. The purpose of this thesis is to accept the fact that there is a territory called Sind which has possessed and still possesses a regional identity and then to exalniine the nature of society within it. The emphasis throughout is on social and cultural charac• teristics related as far as possible to the various forces affecting them and operating within them, a field of study lying between Social Geography eind Social Anthropology. Within Sind there exist diversities of religion, of occupation and economy but. overriding these there has been until recently an undisputed social and cultural unity manifesting itself in language^ folk customs, mysticism and a elass/caste division of society. This unity has been associated with a subsistence orientated agricultural economy in which family gind kinship have aided survival in a harsh arid environment. Sind has been a region peripheral to the main• stream of Asian change and regional and social unity remained undisturbed for centuries. Two phenomena have recently disturbed this traditional continuity, first the effects of partition of All-India and secondly urbanization in the developing state of Pakistan. The question remains whether traditional rural - based unity will remain dominant or whether a new hybrid culture will appear. STUDIES IN SINDI SOCIETY THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF SELECTED SINDI COMIIUNITIES THESIS PRESENTED FOR THE DEGREE OF M.A. BY A.n.A. SIDDIQI UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM ENGLAND. MAY, 1968. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. LIST OF PLATES Plate 1. Village girls ^'picking cotton pods. Facing P. 28 Plate 2. In the country side of Nawab Shah after ploughing levelling is being done to produce a tilth. Pacing P. 32 Plate 3. Sindi Buffaloes. Facing P. 33 Plate 4. Sugar cane juice is being extracted by animal power. Facing P. 35 Plate 5. A Sindi potter. Pacing P. 68 Plate 6. Pottery from Hala. Facing P. 68 Plate 7. A performance of Mystic songs at the fair of Bhit Shah. In the. background the building is the tomb of Bhit Shah. Facing P. 101 Plate 8. A Sindi bride in the middle of kindred and friends. Facing P. 1^*6 Plate 9. A typical Sindi female dress, fihunni (head cover) traditional embroidered shirt and the striped Salwar narrow at the ankle. Facing P. I67 Plate 10. A typical Sindi male dress, Pagri (turban) A^rak on the shoulders along \*ith Sindi shirt and Sal war. Bacing P. I67 Plate 11. Ajrak sometimes is wrapped around the upper part of the body. Facing P. I67 II Plate 12. AJrak is also used ad head gear. Facing P. l67 Plate 13. Sindi type wrestling (MalakhaixJ Facing P. 175 Plate 1^. 'Narr' a typical Sindi musical instrument. Facing P. 175 Plate 15. Various Sindi musical instruments e.g. Ek-Tara, Murli, Chapri. Facing P. 175 Plate 16. A scene from a town. The bullock carts are carrying the commodities to the markets. Facing P. 179 Plate 17. A modern mode of transport. Facing P. 180 Plate 18. Horses in the rural areas are still the main type of con• veyance. Facing P. 182 III T,IST OF APPENDIX Appendix 1 Page I5 Appendix 2 Page Z^O Appendix 3 Page Zn Appendix k Page 6I Appendix 5 Page 62 Appendix 6 Page 6k Appendix 7 Page 7^ Appendix 8 Page " 93 Appendix 9 Page 9^ Appendix 10 Page 127 Appendix 11 Page 128 Appendix 12 Page Ikj Appendix 13 Page I78 IV LIST OF CONTENTS Page Introduction 1 Section I Chapter I The Land of Sind 6 Chapter II Sind in History 17 Section II Chapter III Economic Organisation - Agriculture 27 Chapter Xt Economic Organisation - other sections 65 Chapter V Settlements 77 Section III Chapter VI Social Organisation 96 Chapter VI A The Sindi Community 97 Chapter VI B Religion 99 Chapter VI C Language 106 Chapter VI D The Family 112 Chapter VI E Kinship 130 Chapter VII Social Organisation and Customs 1^5 Chapter VII A Marriage lk6 Chapter Vll B Birth 155 Chapter VII C Death 159. Chapter VII D Disease I6k Chapter VII E Dress 167 Chapter VII F Food o 171 Chapter VII G Recreation 175 Chapter VII H Communications 179 Conclusion. 187 Bibliography 191 LIST OF MAPS. Map 1 West Pakistan; Political Divisions, Facing P. 1 Map 2 Sind Physical Regions, Facing P. 7 nap 3 West Pakistan, Annual Raiftfall, Facing P. 9 Map 4 Sind, Vegetation Zonesj Facing P. 12 Map 5 West Pakistan, Raw Mjaterials, Facing P. 12 Map 6 West Pakistan, Minerals, Facing P. 12 Map 7 Sind, Administrative Districts, Facing P. 22. Map 8 Sind, Density of Population, Facing P. 78 Map 9 Sind, Urban Centres, Facing P. 79 Map 10 Sind, Agriculture and Industries, Facing P, 85 Map 11. West Pakistan Railways. Facing P, 179 VI In this thesis an attempt is made to analyse the elements of this situation mainly through the present• ation of systematic studies of social and economic life and then to show hovi these elements are balanced in the whole. ihe elements and forces involved are of great variety. within the community one must consider the broad groupings of social organisation as they occur in this particular region (which above all is physically characterised by aridity). There are also the facts of caste, a system which does not only permeate the uindu sector, and the effects, through time, of historical pov;^er struggles not only between dynasties but between peoples and cultures. In Section I are examined the basic physical characteristics of the region which, with little variation have characterised Sind for some four millennia. The characteristics of physical environment are clear and powerful in their influencing both of traditional and modern ways of life. Resources and locational char• acteristics have not only directly controlled many aspects of rural culture but also have affected many other elements such as contacts with neighbouring regions, routeways, urbanization etc. Sub-regional differences such as those between the central riverine tracts, the eastern sand deserts and the barren hill badlands are examined. i'rom this examination of physical environment one may then proceed to look at the most significant elements in the history of Sind including a brief survey of the ethnic and cultural and political changes. In Section II the economic organisation of Sind life with particular emphasis on occupational characteristics is studied. Much of the continuit3' of Sindi life in the past derived from the overwhelming predominence of rural economies which although functionally varied and with sub-regional differences all had one unifying trait of cultural conservatism. With the acceleration of urbanization and the broadening of occupational opportunity have come changing social as well as economic values. Economic diversification, so far as this has proceeded, has weakened the traditional cultural unity and it is to an examination of traditional and transiotional social organisation to which vre then turn. Section III is devoted to an examination of the most important elements of social organisation viz., the family, kinship, religion, recreation, food, disease, settlement, communications etc. Tradition• ally the family occupied a central place in the organisation of the community. Now as migration to towns proceed apace, the family is weakened, the decentralised nature of village life is increasingly replaced by central authority based on the large towns and the whole matrix of the society is apparently endangered. The question arises as to whether these new forces which seem to encourage urban uniformity will destroy the long surviving traditional unity in diversity of Sind. Religion itself is indissolubly linked with other elements in the life of Sind. There are fundamental differences between Hindus and Muslims. The former believe in the existence of many deities, the latter in one Uod only. Hindus believe in the transmigration of soul and Muslims do not. Neverthe• less in spite of there being these and other fundamental doctrinal differences in Sind there is much common ground between the devotees of both faiths. There is general mysticism, the importance of priesthood, beliefs in some mystical properties etc., many common elements derived from the near and remote past|^make the doctrinal differences between Hindus and Muslims less important to village life than factionalism which reflects many cross currents of kinship, caste, religion and other elements. In conclusion, the thesis attempts to draw together the various elements which have been analysed. The most significant fact would appear to be that from many ethnic strains and cultural and religious legacies traditional Sind developed.